South Africa's right-handed explosive batter Heinrich Klaasen's knock on September 15 (Friday) brought back memories of Rohit Sharma's carnage against Australia in Bengaluru where he smacked 16 sixes, a flashback of Eoin Morgan's outrageous 17 sixes against Afghanistan in the 2019 World Cup and AB de Villiers' extraordinary 31-ball century against the West Indies to name a few. It was brutal hitting from Klaasen at his home turf SuperSport Park in Centurion. After a point of time, every ball that flew into the stands after making contact with Klaasen's bat made a similar sound to that of a bullet leaving from a cannon - BOOM!
The innings from Klaasen was nothing short of stunning. It was brute power and impeccable timing, the combination that destroyed Australia's bowling attack to an extent that even the hapless Aussies on the ground could only stand, smile and admire the belligerence of an expression-less Klaasen.
The right-handed batter scored 174 runs in 83 balls with the help of 13 sixes and as many fours. The most stunning part of Klaasen's knock was how he switched from gear one to overdrive and never looked back until he was dismissed on the last ball of South Africa's innings. At one stage, the Protea batter was batting on 24 runs off 25 balls, and from there on, he scored 150 runs in his next 58 balls. It was breathtaking stuff from Klaasen, who gave the fans inside SuperSport Park an indelible memory.
Watch Heinrich Klaassen's all 13 sixes here:
In a must-win game, South Africa outplayed Mitchell Marsh-led Australia in all departments of the game to register a massive win by 164 runs, their second-biggest victory by a run margin in the format. Klaasen was the architect of the win as he destroyed the Aussie batting lineup with an 83-ball 174 to help the hosts post a massive total of 416/5 with the help of David Miller's unbeaten 82. Alex Carey turned out to be the lone warrior for Australia as they got all out for 252 in the 35th over.
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